Expensive. Requires Vista PC to take advantage of all features (though it works, in a reduced capacity, with Windows XP). No Mac or Linux support.

Bottom Line

The D-Link DSM-750 is a capable, wireless HD media extender. But it costs nearly as much as the Xbox 360, which does much more.

It's tough to enjoy movies, TV shows, or even music perched uncomfortably in front of a desktop computer. It's much more comfortable to take in your media from, say, the den or living room sofa. That's where media extenders come in. These devices let you stream all of your recorded, ripped, and even BitTorrented media files from your PC to any other room in the house. That's a useful taskprovided that the extender works properly, is easy to use, and is relatively inexpensive. The D-Link DSM-750 nails the first two requirements. But its relatively high entry price ($319.99 list) means it's a short leap to more capable devices, such as the Xbox 360 or, say, even a low-end Windows Media Center PC.

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The DSM-750 promises easy media file browsing, including music, photos, and videos using its integrated MediaLounge Media Player mode, which works on any Windows XP, Windows 2000, or Windows Vista PC. It also functions as a Windows Media Center Extenderbut for this you'll need a PC running either Windows Vista Premium or Vista Ultimate. If you have one, and set up the device as an extender, you'll get plenty of additional capabilities, such as access to online entertainment, news videos, and sports scores. Plus, if your Vista PC has a built-in TV tuner card, the DSM-750 lets you watch live television or record TV programs. It also gives you an electronic programming guide, with built-in schedules for cable, satellite, and terrestrial television programming. Finally, it does the live TV pause and rewind trick first made famous with TiVo.

Regardless of the mode you use it in, one area the DSM-750 scores big is in its wireless capability. With draft 802.11n support, the device can connect to WPA and WPA2 wireless networks, and can even switch between 5GHz and 2.4GHz networks. With one exceptionmore on that in a minuteit was also easy to set up.

The front panel of the device is pretty clean, save for a power button, a blue power LED, and a USB port (for streaming media off a flash drive). On the back, the DSM-750 includes an Ethernet port, an HDMI port, component and S-video outputs, and coaxial and optical digital outputs for digital audio. It's a slim-line component, but you'll need enough clearance for the three antennas.

When I first set up the DSM-750, I ran into a huge hiccup: my test unit wouldn't even browse for wireless networks, much less try to connect to one. It turned out the first unit had either a loose or faulty wireless card; a second review unit worked perfectly. For the review, D-Link also sent its DL-4500 GamerLounge wireless router, which performed admirably, both for the DSM-750 (in 802.11n, 5GHz mode) and in general for home networking.

The DSM-750 supports plenty of video formats and containers: WMV9, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, XviD w/MP3 or PCM audio, H.264, DVR-MS, DVR-MS HD, AVI (MPEG-4), and VC-1. DivX and QuickTime are two major omissions, but what you get is sufficient for anyone with a Windows Media Center PC. For music, the DSM-750 plays MP3, WAV, AIFF, WMA, and OGG files; it's also capable of decoding DRM-10/PlaysForSure files from Napster, Rhapsody, or other Windows-focused online music services. The unit can also display photo slideshows, with support for JPG, JPEG2000, PNG, TIFF, GIF, and BMP files.

As a Windows Media Extender for Vista, the DSM-750 shines. HD streaming was seamless over both 802.11n and over wired Ethernet. There were a few hiccups on some test 1080i videoswired or wirelessbut otherwise the device did an admirable job, even on 720p content. Audio was also unbroken in this mode, and since the D-Link DSM-750 has no fans, it's completely silent during operation. MediaLounge mode was less impressive, however. Its interface consists of large, ugly icons that all looked similar when browsing through files. Plus, a 720p video played with no audio after a few seconds in this mode. (The same file played perfectly in Windows Media Extender mode.) There's also no Mac or Linux support, unfortunately, even in MediaLounge mode.

But the biggest problem with the DSM-750 is its price. At $319.99, it sits squarely in Xbox 360 territory. And the Xbox is an equally capable media extender and also functions as a top-notch gaming system. On the downside, loud internal fans can be distracting when watching videos or listening to music, however, and the Xbox isn't Wi-Fi capable out of the box. The Apple TV, meanwhile, perfects the user interface in both setup and general operation, and you can rent movies directly from the device. But it's not nearly as flexible when it comes to non- iTunes media streaming.

D-Link more or less gets the feature set right, but also highlights a general problem with media extendersthey're price sensitive. The DSM-750 is a quality component, but it would make a lot more sense if it were priced at, say, $199. At $319, it's tougher to justifyespecially if you're just using it in MediaLounge mode with a Windows XP machine. In that case, I'd go for the Buffalo LinkTheater HD and an Ethernet cable instead. You'll save about a hundred bucks and have an easier time navigating your media folders using the LinkTheater HD. Nevertheless, once you get past the entry fee, the D-Link DSM-750 serves as a great way to access your PC media from your living room couch.

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About the Author

Jamie Lendino is the Editor-in-Chief of ExtremeTech.com, and has written for PCMag.com and the print magazine since 2005. Recently, Jamie ran the consumer electronics and mobile teams at PCMag, and before that, he was the Editor-in-Chief of Smart Device Central, PCMag's dedicated smartphone site, for its entire three-year run from 2006 to 2009. Pri... See Full Bio

D-Link DSM-750

D-Link DSM-750

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